


What is it worth for you?

by PrussiaSheiala



Category: VIXX, Winner (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Enemies to Lovers, Growing Up Together, M/M, Middle Ages, Plant Castiel, Slow Burn, Tamora Pierce Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 21:58:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15470985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrussiaSheiala/pseuds/PrussiaSheiala
Summary: Wonshik and Minho grow up together in the winding circle temple, but to say they grew up as a friends would be a lie of comical propotions, as the two strongest plant mages, they are forced to grow up and accept responsibilities, all while keeping up the idea of hating each other, but as a plague strikes the lands, they have to fight to find a cure.





	What is it worth for you?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverSwan7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverSwan7/gifts).



> This story is heavily inspired by Tamora Pierces Circle series, if you ever feel like reading stories with strong female heriones of all races and creeds, which has a realistic view of love and romance and everything else, I can't recommend everything she has ever written enough!

A cliché version of the story would be told as they started out as friends with a misunderstanding making them fall out, but that wasn’t the case. In reality, they had taken one look at each other the day they met and more or less decided that they hated each other.

There were tons of reasons why they felt this way. They were from very different backgrounds. Minho was from a prestigious family of nobles, and he could trace his lineage as far back as written time was recorded. Wonshik was a completely opposite case. He was a street kid -a street kid with two Xs on his hands showing that he had gotten caught stealing twice.

His hands were lying though. He had gotten caught three times, but the 3rd time you didn’t get an X you got send to a labour camp where you would probably end up working until you died, which at a labour camp was pretty soon after arrival.

Wonshik had gotten saved though. They had found magic in him and he had been sent to the living circle to live and train, that was where he met Minho. When you began with the living circle and a part of the magic life your past no longer mattered, you had sworn your life to the living circle.

Minho and Wonshik had ended up moving to the discipline cottage together. It was a living place removed from the normal dorm. It wasn’t a punishment, but it was meant for people who didn’t fit in with the normal living standards for different reasons.

That was where it was discovered that Wonshik and Minho had the same kind of magic, plant magic. You would think that it would make them grow closer together right? That they would slowly get over their issues and become close friends with an unbreakable bond?

That didn’t happen. They started to dislike each other more. Sharing a teacher, they would always compete to see who could perform the best, who could grow the healthiest plants. Everything turned into a competition.

That was how they grew up, under the same roof, sharing a teacher and a power, always spitting insults at each other.

The competition started then. It wasn’t like a real, official competition; instead it was competing with each other to figure out what different things. Like Wonshik would point at a perfume they smelled and each of them would try to figure out what plants were used for the oil and for the scent.

From there it started getting more intense. It went from perfumes to soaps to anything that contained plants. Neither one of them would ever take the lead as they would switch between who won and who beat the other. There was no sole winner.

That was how the years went, and then they weren’t children anymore. They were fully grown mages and adults, and it was time for them to split. They were no longer required to be in discipline cottage. Instead they both went to travel different places, to experience different kinds of plants and to hone their skills.

They were away from each other and the living circle for almost four years, during which they didn’t see or talk to each other. They would still talk about each other, their life had revolved around hating each other for so long that it only made sense, but they also made sure that everybody knew how much a of a dick the other person was.

And then time to come home appeared. Nothing was like home and the living circle was their home, It had been their home all through childhoods.

Somehow, they actually ended up getting back at the exact same day. As they reached the entrance to the temple, they just both stared at each other for a moment. They had both changed so much. Like always Minho’s stare found its way to Wonshik’s knuckles where the Xs were. They were no longer there, instead complicated tattoos of flowers and plants winded their way up and down both arms, wrists, and hands covering up the Xs marking Wonshik’s past.

Both looked older as well. The baby fat had left Minho’s face and in its wake was a strong jawline and chiseled features. He was wearing the yellow robes of the air temple, showing that Minho had taken his vows for the air temple and was now their disciple.

Wonshik had grown as well. He had always been much shorter than Minho, but now he seemed to be a few centimeters taller than the other green mage much to Minho’s chagrin. He had taken his vows again, but instead of yellow he was wearing the green of the earth temples disciples. A decision that he had made with much pride. Having spent much time in Chammur studying the plant life there and in Sotat, Wonshik had gained a strong tan and a serious muscle mass from helping the work in the rice fields.

“Wonshik.”

“Minho.”

They just nodded at each other, both were kinda happy to see each other again. It was a part of their childhood that they had kinda missed. It was like coming home.

They each left for their different temples at that point. They had both reached the level of great mages and had heard about the level of the other as well. They both had plans for what they wanted to do back at living circle.

It turned out that they hadn’t grown more alike while being a part, instead they’d grown to be more different. Minho started building a greenhouse, while glass was very expensive he pulled a lot of string to get it all to living circle and to build his greenhouse with it. His hope was to be able to grow plants outside of their season. Hopefully being able to grow plants not native to Emelan and its four shifting seasons.

Wonshik on the other hand, was a lot more natural person. After having seen the world in different lights, he wanted to create a big garden, but a more natural one than Minho’s greenhouse, with plants that went into sleep during the winter season.

He found Minho’s greenhouse to be disgusting. As green mages, they could feel the life inside the plants. Wonshik found it disgusting that Minho was forcing plants outside of their natural season.

So, it was easy to say that they weren’t better at getting along during that time than they had been as kids. The competions didn’t stop though, and those games of figuring out what was in stuff led to something else.

A plague hit Emelan, and as great mages Minho and Wonshik were given the task of finding a cure. To find a cure for a disease, they had to break down what was in the plague, and then find multiple ‘keys’ that dealt with different parts of the disease. After that those ‘keys’ could be used to make a cure.

It was a job that could only be done by green mages, mages that had a close connection to the plants. They found that it was a lot like their competitions as kids. Now as adults, it was about who could find more keys.

They were effective at it. While they treated it as a competition, both were also very aware of how people's lives were depending on them to figure out a cure. It was the first time that they were using the same workspace to work in. Somebody needed to prepare essence of the plague for them to test on, and everything needed to be sterile as even a minor accident with the traces of essence would lead to even more aggressive spread of the disease.

It took a long time, and they were constantly arguing with each other, but they found a cure for the disease. Many people died, but they managed to save as many as people as possible. After the first cure was found, they still had to work together for months to make sure that they found a specific cure for every sector of the population. Children couldn’t use the same cure as the elderly and males and females might need different or more effective cures.

It was months upon months of working together, before they could finally declare their work done and write the new disease into the books with the cure. As it was time to leave each other, neither wanted to admit that they had enjoyed working together, even if they spend 80% of the time arguing.

Nobody could understand them like they could understand each other. They had this special connection, but they were very different people. Every time they would meet each other, insults would be swung at each other, taking aim at everything, like how Minho couldn’t get tomatoes to grow in his greenhouse, and Wonshik couldn’t grow a lot of the plants he wanted to since it was too cold in the country.

That was how it went for two more years. They reached the age of 25 as another plague hit the city. Then they were back in the lab, arguing and half yelling at each other while working. Everyone else working on preparing the plague essence, so that they could test on it, was terrified of going into the work room. Worried that the two tall as fuck males were gonna come to blows, but while their words were stringing, nobody ever got close or near hitting each other. No doors were smacked, and no matter what words were slung at each other their hands were stable and nothing happened to impede finding the cure.

Didn’t stop them from scaring the shit out of everybody though. The males were scary with their sharp tongues.

This plague was harder to solve than the other. More often than not they would end up both collapsing on the big mattress placed in Minho’s working area next to his greenhouse. It was much closer than having to walk to the temple housing areas.

Weeks of working hard on a cure, collapsing onto the nearest mattress when they couldn’t stand anymore, and the lab needed to be sprayed down; finally, all keys were found and so was the first version of the cure. After that they could get a little bit more sleep, but they both seemed to ignore the fact that they could have walked all the way back to their own sleeping quarters. Instead they still collapsed on the mattress in the workroom, next to each other surrounded by plants.

You could never get either of them to actually admit that they enjoyed sleeping next to each other. If you asked Minho, he would just scoff at you and tell you that you could take the rat out of the sewer, but not the sewer out of the rat… The rat being Wonshik.

Wonshik himself would have gotten insulted, like he would ever enjoy the company of a money-bag like Minho! He had more pride than that.

So they went on in denial, but still sleeping easily next to each other. Their sleeping bodies slowly creeping closer and closer to each other while sleeping. In the morning they would blame the other for being the one who was needy and being a cuddler.

In reality it was both of them, both needed love and affection from people, but they were too prickly around the edges for anybody to dare getting close to them. And after all, they really only had eyes for each other, even if they were very much in denial.

A cure was found for everybody, it took a long while, months where they would fall into bed together. No hanky-panky was going on, but they seemed to sleep better with each other near. But after the cure was found, it was time to return to their own sleeping quarters.

Something they didn’t enjoy. Both of them slept much worse alone. At first, Wonshik decided that it wasn’t actually because he enjoyed sleeping next to Minho, it was clearly because he didn’t have plants close to him like he did in Minho’s work room. He tried to put plants in his sleeping room, without even thinking about it he put plants that reminded him of Minho, but it didn’t help. If anything, it just made him sleep worse.

Both looked horrible, snapping at everybody more than they normally did. Neither of them was sure how they ended up back in the workroom sleeping with each other, but they would both say that it was the other person that asked.

In reality they were both so sleep deprived that it didn’t really matter who it was that actually asked, they just desperately needed to be able to sleep.

They knew people were talking, but every time that somebody dared bring it up to them they would deny that anything was going on between them, that anything ever could! But still, every night they would find themselves cuddled up close in bed, unable to leave the other that they had craved so much.

Years went past, they reached the age of 28. Everybody behind their backs was kind of laughing at them. They were all taking bets about when the two would finally admit their feelings for each other. It was clear to everybody that while the two plant mages loved to argue and were always pretending that they hated each other, that wasn’t actually the case. It was clear to everybody that there were love between them. Yes, it was a little rough around the edges, but it was there.

Then another disease hit the town. It started in the slum where it left people with blue pox and then slowly killed them with a fever. What made it worse is that Wonshik was caught in the quarantine. He had been delivering medicine to the slum’s medical house, and while he wasn’t a healer he had taken a look at the patient as they got in, meaning he couldn’t leave. They didn’t know how the sickness spread. They couldn’t risk him spreading the disease to anybody else.

For Minho, it was worse than the worst thing he had ever thought of. When he heard there was a new disease the first thing he started with was calling for somebody to drag Wonshik’s lazy ass out of whatever tree the guy was sitting on, or whatever he did when he had free time, they had work to do!

Everybody looked awkwardly at Minho, until he barked for them to tell him what was going on. None of them really wanted to tell the green mage where Wonshik really was. Nobody wanted to tell the man that the person he loved was stuck in quarantine with a bunch of dying people.

While people seemed to be able to survive the fever if they were lucky, the truth was that most people who caught the pox early on would die of it. There simply wasn’t enough time to find a cure.

He barked one more time for his assistant to tell him what was going on. His assistant, a shy man called Taehyun, stuttered as he told Minho the truth. Minho’s face changed expression multiple times, from surprise, to scared, to angry. He mumbled to himself that Wonshik was stupid, that he should never have gone down into the slums, that they didn’t appreciate all the effort he put into stocking up their medicine and spelling it so it was fresh.

But he didn’t yell, he didn’t do anything other than that. He just left for his lab and motioned for everybody else to follow him. They had to make a diagnosis oil quickly. If they had a diagnosis oil, they could get Wonshik out of there before he actually contracted the disease.

If they had thought that Minho was easily annoyed and barked orders before, it was nothing compared to what he was like at that moment with Wonshik stuck in the slum. The problem was, he was slower than he normally was. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to try and make the diagnosis oil as fast as possible, he really did, but he normally had the other plant mage to work with. Now he was alone.

Each night with no diagnosis oil he had to go back to his workroom to sleep alone. No amount of plants could him feel better. There was no consoling him. All he wanted to do was get Wonshik out of that damn place. His sleep was haunted by the dreams of Wonshik covered in the blue pox. It was haunted by the dreams of Wonshik slowly slipping away as the fever took him.

Minho wasn’t sure what he would do without Wonshik. The former slum rat was the only constant thing Minho had had in his life for many years. No, he couldn’t lose Wonshik. The first night he had just told himself that the reason he didn’t want to lose Wonshik was because he would then have too much work himself. The second night he told himself that he didn’t want to lose somebody he had known for so long. Night three he told himself nothing, still in denial.

The fourth night with no result, he couldn’t deny the truth anymore. If Wonshik died, a little piece of Minho himself would die too.

The fifth night, he knew that he would have to confess to Wonshik. He loved the stupid, stupid green mage. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he couldn’t accept it. No, he refused to. Wonshik was gonna survive this no matter what it took from Minho.

There was good news the next day. When they unlocked the cabinet that they had stored the test samples in, they were greeted with a diagnosis oil that actually worked. Everybody was quick to swipe it across their forehead, the diagnosis oil stayed white as a sign that they were healthy.

The diagnosis oil was quickly sent into mass production, and what they had was sent down to the slum medicine house that Wonshik was at. The runner who Minho sent there was specifically told not to leave until he had seen Wonshik putting the diagnosis oil on and testing it. And if he was healthy, he was not to come back without the green mage.

Five hours passed, and Minho was getting worried. He trusted the runner not to steal the diagnosis oil and run away with it. What he was more afraid of was that the runner had went to test Wonshik, only for the mark to turn red signaling that the mage was infected. Meaning that the runner was too scared to return to Minho in fear of the man’s wrath.

The hours snailed past. Minho got more and more worried. He even had to have his assistants be the ones to put his tests into the tiny test vials of plague essence, since his own hands were shaking so bad.

He was able to focus on his work, he was a professional, because if Wonshik really had caught the blue pox Minho needed to find a cure very soon. Find it before the pox emptied out Wonshik’s magic. After he could no longer fight back, the fever would set in and kill him.

7 hours passed, people were taking a break as the door to the sealed lab opened. There Wonshik was standing with a giant grin on his face. On his forehead was a white stripe from the diagnosis oil, showing that he was indeed healthy. He was wearing gloves, mask, and a coat and was making sure that everybody else getting ready for a day of work.

Minho couldn’t do anything other than just stare. He had thought of every doomsday scenario, most of them involving Wonshik dying, but what he hadn’t thought of was what he would do if Wonshik was okay. What he would do when Wonshik was in front of him.

A love confession would be the most natural thing, right?

Was that the way Minho went with? Nope, because he was an emotionally constipated, who had no idea how to actually deal with his emotions now that Wonshik was actually in front of him. So, what he did instead was just point at the other and then at the empty work desk where the other normally worked.

Wonshik just grinned, and Minho found himself being swept up in a hug by the other green mage. For a second he was shocked, he wasn’t expecting that, but then he returned the hug. A blush made its way to his cheeks as Wonshik mumbled with a content tone. “Thank you for working hard to get me out. I was afraid that I was gonna go insane there without being able to help.” He pulled back a little to look at the surprised Minho. He just smiled at him, “now let’s get to work. After spending so many days with the disease, I think I have an idea where to start working on the keys for the cure.”

Every assistant and worker in the lab was pretty disappointed that that was all that happened. The two plant mages had gone through all of this and still no confession to each other, god there really was no hope for these two was there…. As an assistant went back into the front room to distill the plague essence, Wonshik went to his table. Or at least he tried to, as he walked past Minho, the younger mage grabbed his arm.

Again, like it was some terrible romance novel that Hakyeon liked to read, they just stared at each other, before Minho blushed and looked away “I am glad you are okay.”

“Don’t tell me you were worried about me. You really think something as silly as blue pox is enough to kill me off. Nah. You tried so long, I am not gonna croak it now.” Wonshik just grinned at him, but the look in his eyes showed two things.

One, while yes he was putting up a brave front, acting like he had always expected to make it; it was clear that Wonshik had been scared, maybe still was. Two, he clearly seemed to understand what it was that Minho wanted to tell him, even if Minho couldn’t really find the right words or express himself like a real human.

That night when they were both completely worn down, they returned to the workroom to sleep. Minho pulled Wonshik close without even first spending time pretending that he didn’t want it. He just wanted to hold Wonshik close, to actually feel and make sure that Wonshik was real, that the younger was actually there.

For once… Wonshik didn’t send his sharp words Minho’s way. He just let the shorter man cuddle him with a content smile. Wonshik had spent a long time alone in the medical house. He had time to think everything over. He had reached the same conclusions as Minho. He didn’t want to go without having seen Minho last time, for Minho to actually know about his feelings. He was so happy to see Minho again, the younger green mage looked so surprised seeing him, but he also looked happy. Like he couldn’t actually believe what had happened, that Wonshik was actually there.

They next day as they got to work, the stress was back on. While Wonshik didn’t have the pox, they still had to find a cure. There were still hundreds of people with the pox and it was spreading outside of the slum into the rich areas as well.

Minho finally got control of his shaking hands and was able to do his own stuff without needing help. With Wonshik back he felt a lot more balanced, he felt less lost.

That wasn’t to say that everything was sunshine and roses. They still hadn’t been able to verbally express their feelings. They still bickered and argued like an old couple, equally sharp tongues having near constant verbal spares. Maybe that was actually how they showed affection for each other?

Days passed, they slowly made progress with the keys. It was going slowly, much slower than it had with the other plagues. They still worked as hard as they did, struggling to drag themselves to the workroom to sleep. Sleeping wrapped in each other’s arms, exhausted, but not willing to let the other person go.

It was idyllic bliss. Okay maybe not, there was still a chance that the disease could reach the temple area and that they would never find a cure for the pox, but it was as close to idyllic bliss that they could come to.

Then it happened, the one thing that couldn’t happen, the one thing that hadn’t happened with any of the other diseases they had fought before. An accident happened.

So how the whole process worked, in the other rooms under heavily sterile conditions, people were distilling essence of the disease that the Wonshik and Minho could work on. Wonshik had went to check on the essence they were making, he wanted to see when they could expect to get a new patch.

The thing was, it wasn’t just Minho and Wonshik who were working overtime. The assistants in the other rooms had family and friends as well, who were falling to the disease. They were working just as long hours as Wonshik and Minho, and they didn’t have the plants or anything else to draw energy from.

They had avoided mistakes up until that point by the sheer force of luck. That luck was over. As Wonshik walked past, one of the assistants tripped over his own feet while carrying the pure essence of the disease, which spilt on Wonshik.

Everybody stared at Wonshik for a second, before Minho was at him ripping off the man's clothes and everything else covered in the disease. “Did it touch your skin? Wonshik snap out of it, answer me!”

For a second Wonshik had just frozen, like he couldn’t actually understand what had happened, but then he shook his head “No it only touched the gloves. It’s fine. Let me get some new ones so we can go back to work.”

The oldest green mage’s voice was almost shaking, and Minho wanted to send Wonshik home, scared that another incident would happen, but he also knew he couldn’t. Wonshik needed to be here, and Wonshik’s diagnosis oil strip on his forehead was still white,

As the rest of the day went past, everything seemed to be normal. Yes Wonshik was a little slower than normal and took more breaks than he normally would, but Minho just explained that away because of the scare.

At the end of the day, as Minho called the day, he turned to Wonshik and he just… stared… No… No… No… No, this couldn’t happen, this just couldn’t happen… Not now!

Wonshik took in everybody staring at him flabbergasted, many with pity on their face, he just sighed. “It’s red isn’t it? I think my magic fought it off as long as it could, that is why it’s only showing as red now.” Only then did Minho notice how Wonshik was leaning against the table, seeming to be unable to hold himself up without any help.

“Wonshik....“ Minho wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to say to the older male. He wasn’t even able to accept this. Wonshik couldn’t be sick. Minho just got him back. He survived so long in the quarantine house, he couldn’t get the disease now.

The assistant that had spilled it on Wonshik was the first person that actually reacted. Tears started rolling down his cheeks, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do this! It was an accident!”

Wonshik’s smile was tired, but it was there. “It’s okay, it was a mistake. We overwork you all too hard and it’s about time somebody pay the price.”

At that Minho felt his temper flare up, no he couldn’t accept this. He refused to accept this. “You!” He pointed at the assistant. “Out!” He pointed towards the door. “And don’t show you face here again!”

“But I…”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, did I? I told you what to do, now out!” the assistant just nodded, tears running down his face as he quickly gathered his things and left.

Everybody was quick at turning their attention back to Wonshik. The man had sat down. He looked up at them with sad eyes, “I think you need to call one of the healers to help me back to the quarantine area.”

His voice was already so weak. Minho didn’t know how to deal with it. It made a chill run down his back as he thought of quarantine area. To put Wonshik back there…. It had no plants or anything. “No… We know that the disease runs in the water. You can’t transmit the disease through touch or air. You can stay in the temple area. We have special areas for when our own gets infected.” Minho was aware that he sounded desperate, but he couldn’t imagine putting Wonshik back into one of those quarantine areas.

Wonshik was the first one who got the blue pox, so the temple area would be clear for just him. That meant that Minho was able to send as many plants and flowers there as possible. They would hopefully help Wonshik fight it. At least long enough for Minho to find a cure. He refused to let Wonshik die. He was not gonna let it. He was not gonna accept it.

“Minho…”

“No, I am not accepting it. You know this is an option.”

“Minho… You have to accept what has happened.” Both of them knew what Wonshik was really saying, that Minho needed to let go.

That was what scared Minho even more. Wonshik seemed so willing to just accept death, how could he do that! Wonshik knew what was between them! Everybody else had left the room, leaving the two green mages alone. Most knew that there was a high chance that Wonshik would not survive this. They were nowhere close to a cure, and the pox was deadly.

“Wonshik, you can’t just ask me to…”

“You have to,” Wonshik struggled getting up. He seemed tired already. “You have to let go.”

“You can’t ask me to let go! I love you!”

There it was. Everything was said. It was all out and done. For a second Wonshik just looked at him, before he struggled to gather enough strength to walk over to Minho and place a hand on his cheek. “I love you too, you know that, but sometimes love isn’t enough.”

Wonshik’s hand was warm, way too warm, a sign that the fever was starting to set in. Minho was not ready to accept it. He shook his head and shoved away Wonshik’s hand. “Just hold on. Please. Please, I am gonna figure this out. You just have to hold on. I am gonna save you.”

Wonshik wanted to argue, but he also felt that he couldn’t argue with his energy levels, so he just nodded, giving in. “Please just be careful. You know that a rushed cure can hurt a lot more than it will do good. Don’t blame yourself if it doesn’t work. I know you will do your best.”

He leaned his forehead against Minho’s. Well he tried to, he didn’t have enough energy to actually hold himself up, so he ended up more or less falling into Minho’s arms as the door opened and a temple healer made their way in.

Wonshik had passed out in his arms before Minho actually managed to say anything to him, leaving him instead to stare down at the man in his arms as a healer gently took Wonshik from him. “We are placing him in the temple ward, nobody else from here is sick. He will get the medical attention he needs.” The healer took one look at Wonshik and felt his forehead. “The fever has not seemed to hit yet, and the pox haven’t hit either. It’s not in the worse phase yet. If we boost him with herbs and other draughts, we should be able to keep his own magic source high, so he can fight it. He won’t win it in the long run, but it should give him some time.”

The healer that was now standing with Wonshik in her arms was Chaerin, she was a little older than Wonshik and Minho, but she was good at her job and Minho knew she could trust her. He wanted to be the one to take care of Wonshik, but he also knew it wasn’t an option. He needed to find a cure.

He helped Chaerin carry Wonshik out, as the man was much taller and heavier than her, grabbing one of his most priced possessions on the way, a miniature pine tree called a shakkan. “Take this with you, this will help.”

Chaerin clearly knowing its value seemed hesitant, “are you sure?”

“Yes, please take it. It stores magic that he can draw on. I will come with more plants that he can draw on.” Chaerin seemed like she wanted to argue, but she could also see the desperate look in Minho’s eyes, the fact that he needed this.

“Okay, but please help him as well, we can take care of him better than you can. You need to work on a cure.”

As if Minho didn’t already know that, but he couldn’t work right now. The lab had to get disinfected at the end of the day and he needed to sleep even a little, or else he would make mistakes. And he couldn’t afford to make mistakes, not when Wonshik’s life was on the line.

After that, the worst week in Minho’s life started.

It was a race against the clock, and he felt so damn useless. They were finding keys much faster than any other disease, but he couldn’t work overtime. Every night the lab had to be disinfected and sit overnight or else it would be dangerous for them to work there. Minho would spend the nights next to Wonshik’s bed. He had been told by the healers that everything was fine as long as he didn’t drink infected water or share bodily fluids with Wonshik.

When Chaerin had told him that, he had flushed a deep red colour. Even the thought of how he would get into a position of swapping fluids with Wonshik was embarrassing, and after that… featured way more often in Minho’s exhausted dreams than he would like to admit.

Every day that he walked home back from his lab without a cure, he felt worse and worse. He felt that he personally was the reason that Wonshik was getting worse and worse. The first night he came back to the hospital ward Wonshik was almost completely surrounded by plants all over. It seemed that Minho wasn’t the only one who had the idea, but also some of his friends. He found Hakyeon, a seer, sitting next to Wonshik, talking with him in a gentle voice while rubbing a salve into the new blue pox marks that were starting to show on Wonshik’s skin.

Wonshik’s smile was weak when Minho entered the room, but it was there and the fact that Wonshik was still conscious was good. The pox marks though… not so much, but Minho did his best to just smile and sit himself down next to Hakyeon.

Minho and Wonshik still hadn’t talked about anything going on between them yet. Instead Wonshik had just given Minho a notebook with some ideas for keys. It didn’t take long after the younger plant mage arrived before Wonshik could no longer stay awake. Hakyeon took his leave as well, but not before looking at Minho with soft eyes “No matter what happens… This is not your fault. It will never be your fault.”

That was a surprise, Minho had expected for the seer to blame him. He wasn’t one of Minho’s friends, he was one of Wonshik’s. He actually used to hate Minho. What Hakyeon said was exactly what was so frustrating to Minho. Everybody seemed to just accept that Wonshik was going to die, that Minho would probably fail. That could not happen.

Day 2 was mostly the same. Wonshik was still weak, but the fever hadn’t taken over his mind yet; however, instead of Wonshik’s blocky handwriting on the notes he received, he got the soft handwriting of Hakyeon.  A sign that Wonshik couldn’t write his own anymore.

At day 3, there had been no notes for Minho and Wonshik was sleeping when Minho got back to his room.

Day 4 was when they finally had found enough keys, and could start working on a cure, but Minho knew that this wasn’t all the work done yet. While he wanted to celebrate and be happy he couldn’t yet, he couldn’t. Wonshik wasn’t saved yet! When Minho got back to the hospital he had been sleeping in, Hakyeon was there holding a wet towel to Wonshik’s forehead and the older seer didn’t need to say anything. Minho knew what it all meant, the fever had finally set in for real.

That was when the clock really started, it was now where Wonshik was in real danger, the fever was what really killed people.

That night the nightmares were much worse than Minho had ever felt before, and when he woke up he had to drag himself to the lab. He didn’t want to leave Wonshik, he was worried about what could happen while he was away, but he also knew that he didn’t have a choice. He had to. Nobody else could save his love, it was on Minho to do it.

He pushed his team the next day, but he also made sure not to push them too hard, remembering what happened last time they were pushed too far. Everybody else in the lab understood what was on the line; they all knew Wonshik. They all cared for him, and they all wanted to save him.

While the feeling in lab was desperate, their work could not be compromised they knew this. They were all professional, but that didn’t stop the mood in the lab from being sad when no cure was found that day.

That night Wonshik’s fever picked up. It was still only in the middle stage of the fever, but it worried Minho nonetheless. He needed Wonshik to hold on until he found a cure. He refused to lose Wonshik before they got the chance to say to each other that they loved them.

That night he fell asleep leaning on Wonshik’s bed holding the elder’s hand tight. None of the healers that visited during the night to check on Wonshik dared to wake Minho and tell him to go to his own bed. They all understood.

Morning came, Wonshik still caught in the heaves of the fever didn’t wake with Minho. Instead Minho woke up feeling more alone than ever as he leaned over to press a soft kiss to Wonshik’s forehead. The fever hadn’t gotten worse over the night though, which was a good sign.

The day in the lab progressed, and no cure was produced.

Every time Minho walked back to Wonshik’s room he did so with urgency in his steps. He was scared about what he would find. He was scared each time that it would be the time where he would end up with an empty room and friend… boyfriend? To bury. Minho didn’t know their status, and to be honest he couldn’t find himself to care. He knew that he loved Wonshik, and he knew that Wonshik loved him back. They hadn’t been able to share their feelings properly, and they always argued, but this didn’t stop them from loving each other more than words. The love between them was indescribable and real. Something that Minho wasn’t sure he could live without anymore.

The morning brought a change, but a good one. Wonshik was awake. He was still groggy and fever stricken, but he was awake, running a sweaty hand through Minho’s hair as the younger woke up. He had once again fallen asleep leaning on Wonshik’s bed, not wanting to be away from him, wanting to stay in contact.

“Wonshik?” Minho’s voice was still from sleep, and he almost convinced himself that he was still sleeping.

“You are gonna hurt yourself sleeping like this idiot.” Wonshik’s voice were rough from disuse, but his eyes were slightly less exhausted. “You would sleep better in your workroom like normal.”

Minho didn’t move his head, not wanting Wonshik’s hand in his hair to move, but he still answered, “I am not gonna leave you here alone.”

He felt Wonshik’s sigh more than he heard it, “I meant it, this is not your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“I should have found the cure by now.”

Wonshik’s voice was suddenly strong and serious. “Minho I mean it, no matter what happens you can’t blame yourself. You can’t freeze up, you need to move on.”

At that Minho sat up, Wonshik’s hand falling from his head, “stop it! All of you stop it! Stop making it sound like you are gonna die! I refuse to let you die!” He knew that he sounded like a petulant child, but he refused to accept this! Wonshik was not gonna die.

“Minho…”

“No! You need to keep fighting! I am gonna get this in time! You just need to fight a little longer!” Minho was staring down at Wonshik in the bed. He hated how Wonshik looked so sick. The skin on his cheeks was almost hanging off his cheekbones from the weight lost. His eyes were sitting so much deeper in it heir sockets than they normally would and the bags under them were present even though Wonshik hadn’t done anything but sleeping.

“You have to realize…”

Minho was not having it. He was not gonna let Wonshik say it! No matter what everybody was saying, even if everybody else gave up, Minho was not going to. He would believe enough for both of them!

Wonshik seemed like he wanted to argue more, but he didn’t have enough energy to do it. He just looked at Minho with soft eyes and a guilty expression. That was enough for Minho.

They made good progress in the lab that day, more than they had in a long time. Minho could almost taste the success on the tip of his tongue. He couldn’t wait to get back to Wonshik’s hospital room and tell him how far they had come. Minho was almost positive that they would find the cure within the next two days. Wonshik was gonna be okay!

The cold hard reality hit Minho as hard as a scorned lover when he entered Wonshik’s room. Two different healers were sitting with him and Hakyeon was sitting there as well with tears dried on his cheeks. Minho didn’t need to ask, he knew how the disease worked. Wonshik had entered the final stage of the disease. The fever at that point would be impossible to stop without a cure. Wonshik would start having seizures and other complications. This was the point of the disease nobody had recovered from.

Hakyeon looked at him, desperation clear in his eyes, but when he saw Minho’s expression he knew the truth as well. No cure had been found yet.

Neither spoke that night and took turns trying to keep Wonshik’s temperature under control. Both felt so helpless. Minho wanted to be back in his lab. He needed to find a cure now! Wonshik could have only hours left!

But he knew it wasn’t an option. While the disease wasn’t transferred by air, the essence could be, and so they needed to clean the lab.

Minho left an hour before he normally did, leaving Hakyeon behind. The seer was looking at him with sad eyes, “it’s not your fault.”

Minho refused to listen.  

He waited for the second the cleaning for the room was done, and quickly entered when the sprays were done. He didn’t wait a second more to start working, Wonshik needed him. He was not going to give up, even if everybody else seemed to have.

Every minute he thought of it as the one where Wonshik could potentially be taking his last breath. No!

As the normal hour for meeting hit, everybody else joined Minho in the lab. Everybody somber as they seemed to have gotten the news of Wonshik’s quickly worsening condition.

“YES!” Minho’s loud exclamation stopped everybody in the room as they stared at the cooling tray on Minho’s table. It was glowing white, a cure! They had done it.

He quickly tilted half of the solution into a little bottle and was getting ready to leave when an assistant grabbed his arm. “You can’t just give it to him! We need to test it!”

Normal proceedings were to test a potential cure on animals before humans, but Minho just shrugged her off “Wonshik doesn’t have long enough for this! He is already dying, even if this kills him it’s not gonna change anything!”

“What if the effects are worse than death?” Her stare was serious as she grabbed for him again, but again Minho shrugged her off refusing to answer or even entertain the idea.

He just left with a laugh running towards the hospital room that Wonshik was in, leaving behind the assistants to continue the work.

It took Minho only 1/10th of the usual time for him to get to the room. The sight he was greeted with was grim. Multiple healers were around Wonshik pumping magic into him. Chaerin looked grimily at Minho, “We are gonna make his passing as painless as possible.”

“NO!” Minho pushed one of the healer away from Wonshik violently. In his eyes, the young man was taking part in killing the love of his life. So, the harsh crash the healer hit the ground with held the no meaning for Minho. “I have a cure!”

That stopped all healers in the room who stared at Minho in confusion, like they couldn’t believe him. As soon as Minho held up the vial, everyone but Chaerin stepped away from Wonshik. He didn’t tell them that it was untested; they didn’t need to know that.

Chaerin kept her hold on Wonshik’s hand. Minho could see the magic still being pumped into Wonshik, and he almost lost it until the woman looked at him with soft eyes, “I am not reducing his life force, I am trying to stabilize it, so he can drink the cure. This is quickly draining my magic, as that’s what this pox attacks. Please give him it fast.”

God, he wanted to hug and kiss the woman out of happiness. Minho knew the risk Chaerin was talking about. To do what she was doing, she needed to completely open the magic connection between Wonshik and herself. This made her vulnerable to catching the disease since it was made from magic.

Minho was quick. Getting an arm under Wonshik, Minho raised his head a little, so he could put the vial to the older man’s parched lips. Wonshik was so light that it scared Minho, but there seemed to be enough life in him to get the green mage to accept the drink. After the vial was emptied, Minho lied him back down and sat, holding onto Chaerin’s hand that she wasn’t using.

The woman kept pumping her magic into Wonshik as the cure did its work. God, Minho was praying to all the gods that it worked. All other healers had left the room and Chaerin and Minho waited with baited breath for any reaction. The healer’s magic was quickly draining, and Minho started to be scared that the cure had no effect.

But it did. Suddenly Wonshik shrugged off both their hands and sat up. After which a lot of things happened, Chaerin screamed falling backwards off her chair in fear and all Minho could do was stare and think ‘oh god… what had he done?’

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked this story!


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